PREVIEW: 2018 Total 24 Hours of Spa – Silver Cup Class

The Silver Cup category will be part of the Total 24 Hours of Spa for the first time this year and features nine cars representing six different brands. Eight of these are full-season Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup entrants who will be looking to put the mileage they have already accumulated during 2018 to good use.

The #6 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 crew of Hubert Haupt, Gabriele Piana and Abdulaziz Al Faisal currently lead the Endurance Cup standings and must, therefore, be considered strong contenders at Spa, where they are joined by Manuel Metzger.

But their competition will have other ideas. The #54 Emil Frey G3 Jaguar has shown impressive pace in 2018, and the young crew of Alex Fontana, Adrian Zaugg and Mikael Grenier will be keen to give the car a fitting send-off in its final appearance at the 24 Hours.

AKKA ASP Team will also be vying for class honours with its #90 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The regular Endurance Cup trio of Jack Manchester, Nico Bastian and Jules Szymkowiak will be supported by Fabian Schiller at Spa, forming an impressive crew for the French squad.

Lamborghini will be the best-represented brand in the Silver Cup, with Ombra Racing, Barwell Motorsport and Daiko Lazarus Racing all fielding the Huracan GT3. Among them, the Barwell squad has already shown race-winning pedigree at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2018 and will fancy its chances in the long-haul Spa contest.

Sean Walkinshaw joins the regular trio at Nissan outfit GT Sport Motul Team RJN, while Ross Gunn is the fourth man at Oman Racing with TF Sport aboard its Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Completing the Silver Cup field is one-off entrant Aust Motorsport, which will field an Audi R8 LMS. Among the driver line-up will be Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup regular Loris Hezemans, whose father Toni and elder brother Mike are both past winners of the 24 Hours of Spa.